<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>breathe in breathe out by escapismandsharpobjects</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999554">breathe in breathe out</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/escapismandsharpobjects/pseuds/escapismandsharpobjects'>escapismandsharpobjects</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Grimm (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Delayed Drowning, Drowning, Episode: s02e09 La Llorona, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Whump, Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-10-14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 00:29:11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>1,324</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/26999554</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/escapismandsharpobjects/pseuds/escapismandsharpobjects</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>whumptober day 13 - prompt: delayed drowning. after the events of la llorona, nick feels the effects of his underwater fight.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Nick Burkhardt &amp; Hank Griffin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>4</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>28</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Whumptober 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>breathe in breathe out</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>hi folks what's poppin! i am very happy tonight bc i finally got my drivers license (only about two years late but still)! anyway i hope that you enjoy this fic like i said it's right after the episode la llorona bc i loved it but come on couldn't they have hurt him a little?? so this was me fixing that and having fun with a new whump trope! hope you enjoy :)</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>They’re both fairly exhausted after the day they’ve had. Teaming up with a not-really-FBI agent to find a murderer, learning that ghosts might actually be real, saving the lives of three kids, and losing their would-be killer tended to do that to people. But it’s Halloween (sort of), and the both of them could do with a little winding down and trying to make sense of the events of the day. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>So they’re in Hank’s living room, talking about ghosts while a scary movie plays on the TV, muted. There’s a small bowl of Halloween candy on the table in front of them, and Hank is eating a kitkat. Nick is decidedly not hungry - his throat feels sore, which he supposes is a byproduct of his time in the river. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He coughs, suddenly, startling Hank, who drops his candy. “You good?” he asks, and Nick nods. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Probably just a leftover from-” he starts, but cuts himself off with another harsh cough, and then another.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You’re sure?” Hank asks. “Those don’t sound good. Do you feel sick?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nick waves him off. “I’m fine,” he says, and reaches for his glass of water. He takes a sip, hoping to calm the coughing, but instead nearly chokes on it, and feels, briefly, like he’s back in the river, fighting</span>
  <em>
    <span> la llorona,</span>
  </em>
  <span> watching her slip away…</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then the feeling fades, and he feels Hank thump him on the back. “I’m good, I’m good,” he assures him, discarding his glass in favor of putting his hands on his knees and taking a deep breath. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I don’t know, man,” Hank says. “Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure </span>
  </em>
  <span>you’re okay?”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine, Hank,” Nick insists. “Probably just swallowed some water earlier.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Hank doesn’t look convinced, but he stops talking about it, and Nick settles back into the couch, leaning his head against the cushion. He blinks and feels his eyes fight to remain closed. He checks the time - nearly one a.m.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I think I should head home,” he says to Hank, who turns away from the TV and looks at him.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“You alright to drive?” he asks. “You don’t look too great.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“I’m fine,” Nick says, for the hundredth time. “Really, I promise.”</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He yawns, and once again feels his eyes slip closed for longer than they should. </span>
  <em>
    <span>On the other hand, maybe he’d just fall asleep right here...Hank wouldn’t mind, right?</span>
  </em>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He decides that the answer to that question is no, and brings his legs up onto the couch, curling up as best as he can in the small space. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“Hey, what’re you-” Hank starts, but he stops upon seeing that Nick has already fallen asleep. He sighs, muttering about how Nick better not get any dirt from his shoes on his couch. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He doesn’t mind, though, really. Especially when he takes a good long look at Nick’s sleeping face - though being asleep has lessened the effect slightly, it’s clear Nick is absolutely exhausted. His face is paler than it normally is, and there are marks under his eyes. He’s long since changed into dry clothes, but his hair is still damp, curling slightly against his forehead as it dries. Hank gives him a smile and locates a blanket to drape over him, then turns off the TV and the lights and heads to his own bed.</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>--</span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nick wakes up an hour or so later with a burning pain in his chest. He tries to take a deep breath to get the pain to stop, but feels it catch in his throat. He breathes in again, and feels the same result. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>A panic starts welling up under his skin as he continues to struggle to breathe - his lungs are burning and there’s no air in his body and he’s dizzy because he </span>
  <em>
    <span>cannot breathe.</span>
  </em>
  <span> He tries to shout for help but chokes on the words, and then coughs, and then he’s coughing again, like before, only unlike before because he can’t stop. He keeps coughing without a breath in between, and every cough feels like it’s tearing its way out of his lungs and his throat, and he can taste the river on the back of his tongue, and he doesn’t know what this is or why it is happening and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>still can’t breathe.</span>
  </em>
  
</p>
<p>
  <span>He tries to stand up, knowing that he has to get somewhere, find someone, but the second his body leaves the couch he’s pitching forward and he’s still coughing and he thinks he is never going to stop, and then - </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Then there is a pair of arms wrapping around him, easing him to the floor, and he still can’t breathe, can’t breathe, </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’tbreathe,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and he reaches out a desperate hand which wildly misses its mark. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He hears, over the sound of his own coughing, Hank’s voice, and he is saying something but not to Nick. He can’t understand what it is Hank is saying, and he can’t see him, either - the force of each cough is making his eyes water so badly the world is nothing but a fuzzy blur, so he knows Hank is there, but he doesn’t know where and he can’t think or process what is happening, but he is </span>
  <em>
    <span>afraid </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t stop coughing</span>
  </em>
  <span> and his chest is on fire. He wants Hank, and tries his best to call out for him. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>And then Hank is there, and his hands are on Nick’s shoulders and he’s saying something </span>
  <em>
    <span>to Nick</span>
  </em>
  <span> this time, but Nick still can’t hear, still can’t see Hank beyond a vague smattering of colors and light. Cough after cough tears its way out of him and he reaches out a hand yet again. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>This time, it hits its mark, and Hank’s hand wraps around his own, steady and warm, and he says something against the side of Nick’s head which Nick still can’t hear, and then Nick is aware that he is being moved, and then something thumps him in the chest and he coughs somehow even </span>
  <em>
    <span>more </span>
  </em>
  <span>harshly than before, and then his body instinctively turns to the side and he coughs up a small amount of water which burns horribly, and then he coughs a few more times, and then, all of a sudden, it stops. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He takes a shallow breath, and then another. He feels himself being moved again, and something in his brain recognizes the motion - </span>
  <em>
    <span>recovery position,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thinks, and then there is a hand between his shoulder blades and Hank’s voice, again, and Nick can actually hear him this time. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>“It’s okay, Nick, you’re okay,” he is saying, but he sounds scared, and Nick is scared, still unsure of what exactly had happened to him and why it had stopped and if it was going to start again. He feels himself start to cry, his eyes which had just been starting to clear up fogging over again, and he takes a shuddering breath that burns but doesn’t make him cough. He wants to ask what happened, but his throat feels like he’s swallowed a bucket of nails and crying is already aggravating it enough. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>He feels the hand leave his back then, and makes a completely involuntary noise at the loss of contact, feeling the pain in his throat spike. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But just as quickly as it had left, the reassuring contact is back, in front of him this time. He feels Hank lie down next to him, feels a hand on his face, hears Hank say those words again: “You’re okay, Nick, it’s alright.” </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>But it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>alright, he is still scared and in pain and confused and so, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>tired. His hand reaches out for the third time, and Hank knows exactly what it means, without Nick needing to say the words. He moves an arm to wrap around Nick’s body as best as he can in their current positions, and he pulls Nick gently towards himself. </span>
</p>
<p>
  <span>Nick leans his face into Hank’s shoulder, relaxes ever so slightly, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>breathes.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>thanks so much for reading!!!! most of this stuff is true to how delayed drowning is but i will be honest the part about whacking him on the chest i completely made up bc i wanted to do it lmao. also i know i never said in the fic but hank is calling 911 and nick will be fine dw!! hope you enjoyed and please let me know what you think!</p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>